The Revolutionary
by flygirl4271
Summary: Cinder's life before the revolution was all about helping people. Now that she's in a position where she could help more people than she could have ever hoped for before she's paralyzed with fear. She thought her life was scary when she was with Kai, and when she lived with her stepmother she couldn't imagine anything worse. But Cinder got through those times, she'll survive these.
1. Chapter 1

Cinder could see the sunlight through her eyelids, she could feel the warmth of her quilt and the sensation of her top that was askew from her tossing in turning in the night, though she was still tethered to her dreams. Back and forth the sensations switched, of being tangled in her sheets and looking up into chandeliers. Of taking a deep breath, shoving her face deeper into her pillow and taking the hand of a beautiful woman. Of clouds that passed as shadows over the sun and the giggling of her and a dark-skinned girl with brown eyes.

Suddenly a sharp cold sensation startled her awake. She opened her eyes to Iko, her robotic hand inches away from her shoulder.

"Good morning," Iko said, over-enthusiastically as another cloud passed over the sun and Cinder felt sleep clutching her as the roomed dimmed. "You slept through your alarm again." Iko pointedly moved her sensor towards Cinder's alarm clock; which was unplugged. Cinder vaguely remembered tearing it out of the wall as soon as it made a sound at 5 am. Shit, the sun was very out meaning it was definitely not before 7 . . . and she had a class at 8.

"Damn it! Iko what time is it?" Immediately Cinders heart started racing as she pounced out of bed and tore through her closet.

"It is 7:37," She noticed the time in her retina at the same time Iko said it. Her heart dropped and she stopped looking for a cute first day of class outfit and grabbed some sweats and a tank top.

"Did Pearl and Peony already leave?" She scanned the room for her backpack and put on her clothes.

"Yes, and they took the hover" She almost snapped at Iko and ask her why she hadn't woken Cinder up earlier. But she knew that wasn't a fair question, her stepmother keeps Iko busy in the morning. Though it does seem like Iko is a little busier on school days.

Cinder glanced at the blankets and pillows and she found herself reminiscing in her dreams; so warm, so safe. She found herself moving towards her bed. Cinder scoffed at herself, focusing on fantasy, how stupid of her to be intoxicated by those . . . illusions. She needed to focus on school so she could move out _as soon as possible. _If she missed this class, she could be stuck here another semester, she turned around back to panicking as she tried to get her stuff together.

She stopped in her tracks, her hand hovering over her backpack and took a deep breath. This is not the time for panicking and conspiracy theories, it's no way to start the morning on her second day of school. She closed her eyes and purposely relaxed her body, making a plan in her head. The hover is gone so she'll have to take public transit, which would take longer and she would really be late for class. But it was the first meeting for the Tuesday/Thursday of _Modern International and Interplanetary Politics_. A mouthful but an essential class for her BA in, Politics and Government. If she missed the first class she could lose her seat. Her heart started racing again.

"Can I help you in any way? Want me to grab your things for school?" Iko rolled up behind her, an androids need to feel useful, Cinder was sure it was overwhelming Iko seeing Cinder like this.

Cinder let out a sigh

"Yes Iko, thank you that would help a lot" Cinder pulled her backpack off the hook on the door and handed it to Iko. "I need to put my shoes on." Cinder grabbed her port screen, looking up the next train to Beijing U as she sat down to put her shoes on. It was leaving in a couple minutes the next one she could take was leaving at 8, it took 45 minutes to just get to the campus and she still didn't know where the class was. She let out a groan. Iko stopped putting things in the backpack and pointed her sensor towards Cinder.

"Will you make it?" Iko asked

"I won't make it on time for sure, but hopefully I'll get there before the class is over." She finished lacing her shoes and stood up. Iko handed her the backpack, now much heavier. "What did you put in here?"

"No time to check! Hurry or you'll miss the train!" Iko's cold hand pushed Cinder by her butt out the door. Cinder dug her feet into the ground.

"Wait! I forgot something." Cinder skipped back towards her nightstand, picked up her gray sweatband and pulled it on her arm, over the line that shows where fake skin and real skin meet. She hated sweatbands, but it was too hot to wear a jacket in late August here in Beijing where it was 90 degrees and humid. She started charging towards the front door, but stopped just before the living room and listened for her stepmother.

"She went to the market, go!" Iko startled her again pushing her towards the front door. "Have a good day at school!"

"Alright, alright!" Just before slipping out the door Cinder made sure the yell "Thank you for waking me up!"

. . .

Cinder was waiting for her stop on the train as she flipped through the news feed on her phone. She could just look at the newsfeed in her eye but when she wasn't looking at a phone people felt there was an opportunity to talk to her, and she liked to keep a low profile. Always afraid someone would find out she was a cyborg, though all the proof was covered up by her clothes. Her eyes caught on one headliner asking a question,

"**Where is Prince Kia Going to School Now?** _As his favorite professor was fired from his preppy private school some speculate that he will follow his new found mentor just about anywhere and rumors are circulating he hasn't reregistered at Xi'an Jiaotong University. Question is, where is this Professor X__?_"

Cinder rolled her eyes. This wasn't news, it was gossip. How do they know about the Prince's registration? She was sure only official people at the palace had access to those records, besides who really cares about where the Prince is going to school when there was so much else to worry about. Like updates on a Letumosis cure and the increasing tension between Earth and the Lunar Queen just to name two. Even covering the truth about the other person in the story would be more relevant. Professor X, an alias to protect his identity but the story has been fleshed out detail by detail.

He started to teach about the atrocities the ancestors of the current monarchy has committed and the ties Prince Kia's great great grandfather had with the very same elite who owned Xi'an Jiaotong University and was quickly fired afterword for some bs about not filing some paperwork correctly. Did Kia really make this professor his mentor? For a second Cinder speculated if the Prince could end up at her University, but Beijing U was a public school and she doubted the state would want to pay a professor who trashed their legacy. But Cinder was heartened to think that her future emperor might question the status quo.

"_Next stop, Beijing University_" A calm robotic voice chimed and Cinder got up to stand next to the doors with many other people her age doing the same. She looked up to the spread of the school, all the glass of the buildings a golden yellow in the morning sun. She noticed the time behind her eye. 8:52. If she walked really fast she could make it to the last twenty minutes of class and beg the professor to let her keep her seat. As the train slowed to stop she heard some students behind her talking about the headline she saw earlier.

"I bet you he went to another country"

"Why would the Prince learn about Government in another country, that's just dumb."

"He's a Prince! He can do whatever he wants."

The air from the doors hissed as they slide open.

And Cinder booked it to the Sociology Building.

. . .


	2. Chapter 2

Cinder pulled up her class schedule on her retina as she approached the Sociology Building, double checking the room number.

Room 304. Just her luck, class on the third floor. As she stepped towards the slidding doors two people in black suits stopped her. The woman on the left reached out her hand.

"School ID and Schedule" Confused, Cinder shook her head. She'd never been asked for identification to enter a building at school before.

She veered towards the stairs, skipping every other step.

8:58.

She scanned the numbers next to each classroom until she found hers. She stopped to catch her breath and before she could think too much about how late she was, opened the door and waltzed in.

The energy in the class seemed . . . excited. Too excited for first day of class jitters. It didn't match the professors tone, who was making short statements matter of factly. The professor was a short woman, with short black hair. She had a cute button nose, and a wicked smile. Her name was written on the board next to a screen displaying the curriculum,

Professor Butler

". . . so this class is to be treated as any other. This lecture is for serious discussion about relationships between allies and foes, I will not tolerate any distractions from the subject at hand. And since this class is a special case you may be up for expulsion if you break any of these rules."

Expulsion? For disrupting a class about politics? That seemed fairly odd to Cinder, when she has gotten into a few heated arguments with professors and later became their TA. She looked around the room to find any other confused faces and found much of the class staring at her. She heard a throat clear at the front of the class. The professor was staring at her too.

"You're quite late." At that, every person in the room had fully turned around and were looking right at her. She felt the blood rush to her face.

"Yes, I'm sorry I slept through my alarm. It won't happen again." Everyone was still staring at her. What was with this class?

"Fine, take a seat. Speak to me after class there are some things you'll need to sign." She walked towards her computer as if to continue but stopped, "Didn't anyone stop you before you came in?"

"No?" Cinder said, very confused, as she sat down in the closet seat possible, all the way in the back.

"Very well. As I was saying, this is what we will be covering over the next 16 weeks. This class will be heavily discussion based, so don't be afraid to discuss your beliefs." She looked meaningfully at one student sitting in the front. You could tell he was tall even sitting down and his hair was jet black. "Or disagree with another student's idea. We're all here to learn."

The class shifted awkwardly.

"We have about twenty minutes left so why don't we start on Chapter one?"

. . .

Fifteen minutes later the class is discussing international trade. The professor is lecturing about laws a regulations and economies with a few interjections from students.

And the tall one brings up a meaningless point about debt.

"We have been talking about the national economy and trade, but we're neglecting national debt. How can we really asses our standing if we don't look at the money we owe to other powerful countries. We need to end our dependence on others." He says, and you can tell he feels passion for this subject by the conviction in his voice. Cinder almost feels bad for him.

"Interesting perspective, anyone have a response?" The class was silent.

"The national debt doesn't really mean much." Cinder blurted, she heard a few people gasp.

"What?" Cinder said quietly, self conscious. What was going on? She looked at her startled peers around her, as mummering filled the classroom.

"You contradicted the prince." The girl said next to me "Everyone's shocked"

The who?

Cinder looked to the tall student at the front of the class. He was staring right at her.

"How can you say debt doesn't matter?" He said.

She could list a hundred reasons why the debt doesn't really matter, and how rich people have touted about the debt for centuries to monger fear among the poor, just so the powerful can steal more.

But she couldn't say a word. Her throat was closed and the breath had left her lungs. Because she was staring into the flabbergasted face of Prince Kia.

"Cat got your tongue?" Shouted another student.

"I. . . " Cinder tried, as she pulled her sweatband covered arm under her desk.

"Because it seems to me, that if one day America decides it wants it's money back we'd be in a tight spot."

"There is no reason for America to do so." Cinders words came out before she could think. Now she was angry. She looked like a fool in front of the whole class, and the prince.

"And why not? Americans like their money more than most." Added a girl a few rows in front of Cinder.

"What good would it do the American economy if the Commonwealth collapsed tomorrow? Our economy is tied to everyone else, if we go down so does everyone else." Cinders heart was beating so fast. She was sure she was having an adrenaline rush. She couldn't believe she was arguing with, the prince.

"That's a very good point." Professor Butler picked up "In fact it's good enough to end on. It's 9:20, make sure to bring your text book next meeting. I'll see you on Thursday."

Cinder quickly gathered her things and went to rush out the door.

"Young lady! Come down here. I have papers you need to sign." Prof. Butler shouted across the classroom. That's right, she needed to stay after. Cinder turned to walk down towards the front of the class and saw the prince waltzing up to the professor as well. Oh god. She tugged nervously at her sweatband.

Cinder stepped down the stairs as she contemplated what to say. I'm sorry? There was no reason to, the professor encouraged them to voice their opinions. Maybe she could ignore him? But what if he says something to her? Should she bow or curtsy? Or neither?

She was in front of the professor's desk way too soon, and there he was right next to her. Cinder pulled her arm behind her back. Her retina showed that her cortisol levels were rapidly rising.

"Thank you for staying, can I get your name for attendance? And you need to sign these non disclosure forms." She handed her a huge stack of papers, she felt very conscious of the silicone skin covering her hand, she hoped it looked as real as she saw it. The Prince flashed her a quick smile, she tried to return it but she felt a grimace on her face instead of a normal smile. She tried to cover it up with a bow and a "Your majesty"

He cleared his throat awkwardly.

Oh god.

"Your name?"

"Myname'sLihnCinder." Cinder was grateful she interrupted. She scrolled on the computer to find her name on the attendance list.

"Cinder, that's a unique name." She was surprised that the Prince was still trying to talk to her, but she was glad to talk about something easy.

"My adoptive father named me." Now it was the princes turn for an awkward pause, everyone was taken aback by the 'adoptive' part. Cinder buried her head in the paperwork Professor Butler handed her. She saw the words 'Under penalty of the law' more times than she's seen on any paper in her life. But she signed on the dotted line, prince or no she needed this class.

"Alright, I marked you late but you still have a spot in the class. Make sure next meeting you show up on time or you'll be withdrawn. No funny business." Said Prof Butler

"Of course, am I free to go?" She could feel her body wanting to run as fast as she could towards the door to escape from this embarrassing situation.

"Did you sign the paperwork?" Cinder handed her the forms she signed. "See you Thursday." Cinder was just about to bow to the prince when he interjected.

"May I walk you to your next class?" His eyebrows were lifted to the heavens, and they were perfectly groomed. . . she caught herself.

"Wh. . . ? Of course, Your Majesty." Professor Butler threw a meaningful look at Prince Kaito.

"I'll see you for our tutoring session." She said, and the prince bowed to her as she left through the facility exit.

"You don't have to all me 'Your Majesty" He said as he walked towards the door.

"Oh. Umm." Cinder couldn't think of anything to say, "You can call me Cinder." He let out a short laugh

"Well that is your name." A few nervous giggles escaped her. Another pregnant pause.

"Did you want to talk about something?" Cinder asked, noticing all the people who stopped to bow as the passed in the courtyard.

"Yes, I wanted to thank you. For speaking up during class." His voice is well rounded, and deep.

"I wasn't the only one to speak." She said, other students had chimed into the conversation.

"You were the only one to disagree with me. I appreciate it." He stopped before we got to a turn and looked right at her. Warnings of her overheating flashed on her retina. If she weren't a Cyborg she'd be blushing.

If she weren't Cyborg, she wouldn't be hiding her arm behind her back with her heart going a 100 kilometers a minute.

Well, her heart would probably still race. But the bit of reality still stung. If it weren't for the law under his families regime she would be able to attend school without the fear of her cybernetic state being exposed. She took a shallow breath, not wanting the Prince to see her unsettled. She had lied about this a million times, he was just another classmate she had to trick for the next three months.

"I'm really passionate about the national debt." She let out a small chuckle "Um, but not as much as you I think." He laughed. Short and curt, but his face light up. The joy she felt from making him laugh brushed sharply against her fear of being discovered. One moment her heart was fluttering with excitement. The next, clenching when she realized her arm slipped from behind her back. But she had no intention to stop talking.

"Well I believe my views may have changed a bit, I'll bring it up to the economic advisors at the palace. If Professor Butler thinks its a good point there has to be some merit." This statement astonished her, from her mouth to the emperor's ears? He must've seen her eyes widen because he quickly added a caviaught "I wouldn't get too excited, I don't get much say in policy. Well any say really." He continued walking.

Cinder chastised herself, what was she thinking? She could inadvertently run the country through her T/Th 8am? But he was going to be emperor someday. He could change things. . . a lot of things.

"Well that's why you're here right? To earn their respect. Enjoy while you're here, at least you don't have any responsibilities yet. Or at least as many"

The prince sighed.

"That's one way to look at it." Cinder stopped in front of the automotive building, she checked her schedule on her retina, Electrical Engineering room 103B. At least it was on the first floor. "Your class is here? What's your major?"

"Politics and Government." With his confused looked she added "With a minor in Engineering."

"Interesting you'll have to explain that to me someday." A dark place in her laughed. Yes, explain to the son of the man who signed the Cyborg Protection Act of which she was actively violating by attending this school, about how she wanted to understand her own anatomical engineering.

"Till next time" Cinder said

"See you Thursday Cinder." He said

"See you Thursday, Prince Kaito."

"You can just call me Kai"

. . .


	3. Chapter 3

_You can just call me Kai . . . _

Cinder spent the whole train ride and walk home analyzing every word in her conversation and confrontation with the prince.

_. . . with Kai_

Had she been rude? Or maybe too formal. He seemed pretty awkward during her bows. Could he tell she was hiding something? Was hiding her arm to obvious?

He thanked her for disagreeing with him.

What does that mean!

She told herself that she should probably take his gratitude at face value. But she couldn't help wondering if instead of encouraging her to do it again he meant. . . thank you but, _enough_. Or even a threat in a charming disguise. He knows her first and family name now, but he could get that on his own no problem. But now she knew he knew . . .

She took a deep breath. And remembered his smile when he said her name. She subconsciously checked her sweatband and her heart clenched again.

She was going to be a mess this semester.

A ding from her portscreen distracted her from her careening thoughts. A message from Peony

_**How was your first day of class? Do you need a ride?~.~*~3~*~.~**_

Cinder slowly stopped as she approached the front entrance of their apartment building.

What was she going to say to Peony.

Technically she couldn't say _anything_ to her. Cinder signed a paper legally binding her to not talk about His Royal Majesty. . . Kai. She grinned.

God she was terrible.

Peony was a moderator on some fan pages about Kai. Big ones, with hundreds of thousands of followers. Cinder was pretty sure that if Peony would obtain this kind of information she would be contractually obligated to share it on the stream. It would eventually get out that Prince Kai was attending Beijing U. But Cinder couldn't talk about it until it was public knowledge, and she couldn't tell Peony she had a class with him. For now it would be a secret, she decided as she walked through the door.

What about Iko?

. . .

As Cinder settled onto her bed Peony waltzed into her room and sat cross legged beside her. She was small but her thick brown hair was long. When Cinder didn't say anything Peony poked her in the arm. "So, how was your first day of Moon Politics" Cinder laughed. Peony was Cinders bright spot in this house. . . Iko too of course. But it was nice to talk to a family member that wasn't annoyed by her presence.

"Modern International and Interplanetary Politics and we didn't really talk about the moon today, mostly international trade."

Peony huffed and laid down next to Cinder.

"Sounds pretty boring to me." Peony chimed. If only she knew who she was talking about the national debt with. . .

"Well what about you, how was your second day of," Cinder did jazz hands, "senior year!" It was unfortunate that Peony was the younger sister, Pearl went to school with Cinder but she gave her the cold shoulder on campus. Even sometimes forgetting that they're supposed to carpool, like this morning.

"Someone in my government class brought up Professor X, have you heard about him?" Cinders heart skipped a beat. Kia's sacked professor. She thought for a second before she answered. Her heart somersaulting.

"Yeah, I saw an article about them this morning. What did they say?" Cinder was genuinely curious too. How did Peony feel about him?

"Well he said it was all a scam to make this guy money." Peony shrugged, "Doesn't really make sense to me."

"Yeah, it would be really stupid to get fired from your job only to release your story anonymously to make tons of cash." Cinder said rolling her eyes. "How does the fan club feel about Professor X?"

"We're stumped. Obviously any slander against the crown is blasphemy," She said with a heavy british accent. "But the Prince is said to follow him anywhere." She finished with a dramatic sigh and something suddenly occurred to her,

Did that mean Professor X teaches at her school? How did she only make the connection now!

Peony skipped right over Cinders stunned silence.

"Honestly I think we're going to ignore this mysterious professor and just speculate on what school Prince Kiato is going to." Peony's face brightened at the subject change. "I think he would go to a private school on the outskirts of the Commonwealth, really get to know his people from all lands."

"What about a public school?" Cinder couldn't stop herself from bringing it up.

"It would be a good move for the publicity but, it's pretty much ruled out because of the professor."

_Right._

Peony jumped off the bed and did a whole body stretch.

"I would love to stay and chat but for some reason these senior teachers love giving homework on the first week."

"It's to prepare you for college." Peony rolled her eyes and as she skipped out the door Cinder yelled, "life's a bitch!"

. . . .

After Peony left Cinder decided to take a nap before work at the mechanics. This time setting the alarm on her port screen.

By the afternoon she had forgotten the dreams she had this morning, but she remembered in her sleep.

_The little girl giggled as she skipped down an extravagant hallway, tugging Cinder behind her. Someone far in the distance is calling after them, but the girls don't care._

_They round a corner too fast and lost their footing, falling on top of eachother in a fit of giggles. But their fun is short lived when Cinder spots the bottom of a glittery dress dragging across the floor. A dress worn by a striking woman with bright red lips, with a strange resemblance to her friend. She didn't know why but she knew something about this was very very wrong. _

Dun-dundun-dundundundundun . .. . We're no strangers to looovee, you know the rules and . . .

Cinder pressed the lock button, why did she choose that song for her alarm?

And again she went about her day, her dreams fading to the back of her mind.


End file.
